I don't even know where to begin (do I say that every time I blog now?)
Hm... well, over the 2nd weekend in May I packed the kids up and the 3 of us headed over to the Madison, WI area for a long weekend of visiting friends and a wedding shower I was co-hosting.
We stayed with my dear friend Jessica, her husband and 2 children, Eli & Celia (C.C.). Eli was just 10 days shy of 5 when we were visiting 
and C.C. is 2 1/2 and as sweet as can be. Despite Tegan and Eli having twin personalities and butting heads quite a bit (they are both strong willed little boys!) they did have some good playtime together and were sad when it was time for us to say goodbye. 
C.C. strikes me much like what I anticipate Casey to be like when she gets older 
- a little girl who adores her big brother, follows his lead but also likes to stand back and quietly observe a lot, too. However, after saying this I also must mention that a few weeks ago Casey discovered how to control the pitch and volume of her voice. For a while there she truly enjoyed practicing this skill as much as she could, especially exercising the ability to control the volume. Brendan refers to it as singing - if it's her singing, then sorry sweetie, but you are not going to be the next Christina Aguilera.A few weeks ago T got to spend the weekend with my parents while B, C and I headed over to Milwaukee to attend the wedding of Brendan's college roommate. We just decided that 12 hours in the car over a 24 hour period would be a lot for Tegan and he'd have more fun with Gramma and Papa - we were right! The wedding was beautiful - outside overlooking Lake Michigan with the reception just a few hundred feet away from the ceremony site in a nice little restaurant. Here's a few pics of B and C keeping cool.
Tegan continues to grow and mature (socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically) with each day. He is acutely aware of Casey and her needs at all times. If she's crying, he lets me know, even if I'm holding Miss C. However, in saying that he's also becoming more and more independent and opinionated (though I didn't think it was possible for him to do that as he was already quite a strong willed and opinionated little guy). His rude attitude and stubbornness are hitting (what I hope) is an all time high. The kid just doesn't understand that when Mommy and Daddy say "no" or "stop" we mean it and when we say "if you ____ one more time we will take away ___" we WILL follow through. Whenever he asks me for something and I don't answer in the way that he wants I get quite the attitude from him and he won't back down without a fight, which has been happening a lot (the "fight" a.k.a. him using a rude tone of voice with me and after stomping and yelling landing himself in timeout with toys taken away for the day). I hate seeing him get so upset, but I'm also SO frustrated with his lack of following rules and directions and blatantly disobeying me with a smirk on his face while he does it. Needless to say the other day the kid went to bed with 75% of his toys put away in garbage bags or out of reach on a tall counter and without bedtime books or story. It was a rough day on T and I - I even cried in front of him (which I didn't want to do) but I think him seeing that got to him and he realized how upset I was. The kid is, and has always been for that matter,very aware of the emotions of others and does not ever intend to hurt anyone's feelings. As soon as he saw me crying he stopped his screaming and kicking and all that (tantrum) and immediately hugged me, apologized and we had a serious heart to heart about how much his bad behavior and lack of following directions hurts Momma and Daddy makes us very sad. I have to say, in the days since then I have had to remind T to follow directions much less. Maybe that was the trick. Not saying he's done a 180 and is a perfect angel now. The kid did start to throw a fit yesterday when it was time to leave the beach (we went down to Lake Calhoun with my long-term substitute and the kids she's nannying this summer), but the fit was very short lived and he settled down much more quickly than it's taken in recent weeks/months. I'm sure it's all part of being a 3 year-old but I'm still allowed to NOT like it one bit.
Totally switching subjects: For over a year I've been talking about getting a big blank canvas (or a few smaller ones) and letting T go wild on them with paint. A few weeks ago I finally did it. I went and got four 16x20" canvases from Micheal's (craft store) along with some Crayola washable paint and ooh-gobs of kids paint brushes. I put those foam workout/kids' play mats on the garage floor (since I could just hose them off afterward) and gave T 7 colors to use: red, orange, yellow, blue, green, brown & white (T insisted on white even though the canvas was already white - but I knew he might mix it with some colors and it would probably turn out cool).
I then put the canvases together so that it could be one big piece of art and then I'd then separate and hang them a few inches from each other. There were definitely a few times when I began to regret the project but I made myself (or at least tried) to relax and remember that I needed to just let T be 3. 
At one point I caught him pouring the green bottle into the brown bottle and I nearly called the whole thing off but I didn't, again reminding myself that it was all part of the experience and it' just paint. :) 
After drying in the garage overnight and, of course more procrastination on my part, I hung T's first masterpiece(s) in his room and I think it turned out pretty darn cool! What do you think? 
I also hung his framed train poster, which I've been meaning to do for several months, too. HA!Before I forget, here are a few of the things T has said recently that are either really sweet or cute or just plain need to be remembered as well as some of his favorite things:)
- "Look, Mom, it's the TVS truck!" -- it took me a while to figure out that he was talking about the UPS truck.
- T: "You're lucky, Mom!"
Me: "Why am I lucky?"
T: "Because I love you!"
- "Not anyfang!" (meaning "anything") This phrase follows when we ask him what he wants for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The only thing he wants to eat lately are snacks like Popsicles (his FAVORITE thing int he world. Especially green and orange ones).
He's still a big fan of fruit nuggets (like fruit snacks but 70% or so real fruit and occasionally marshmallows, too). Favorite meal foods are the typical kids favorites: hot dogs & mac 'n cheese. I made spinach and cheese ravioli the other night and he really liked that. He's a fruit and juice-aholic. The kid refuses to eat veggies (knowingly that is) so I've resorted buying juice that has veggie juice in it mixed with the fruit juice. I thought w had a break through the other night as he wanted to eat Casey's squash, ate almost an entire baby container of it... but he's refused to do so since.- The kid is addicted to the Backyardigans show from Nick Jr. We've got a DVD with 4 episodes on it and he L-O-V-E-S it. I love it because it really encourages imagination, imaginative play and working together. The kid walks around singing the songs and reciting phrases from it every daily.
- T is now into "exercising". This consists of him getting in semi-push-up position but with butt up in the air and then pushing up and down with his arms and legs. It's pretty naughty looking, actually. HA! He'll also jump around, jump on one leg... stuff like that and say he's exercising.
- The pool is still the "cool" according to Tegan.
We've had it out a lot this summer as it's been pretty darn warm and humid. Even a several days where it's been down right HOT! A great excuse for the neighbor kids (including T's girlfriend, Lilly, remember her?) to come over and play. :)
- T's been adding "y" or "ey" to the end of a lot of his words, especially when he's whiney. So he'll say things like, "I need my beddy" or "I need my bikey". It's so frustrating at this point because it usually means he's getting overstimulated or just plain tired/worn-out and a tantrum (large or small) is potentially on the horizon.
Then there's Miss Casey. The little lady continues to grow more and more each day. Her hair has even noticeably gotten longer and thicker just over the past week. The girls gonna have dark hair like her mommy and daddy. :) She's also basically sitting on her own, though I don't let her do so for long as her little belly is so big that if she's eaten anything within the last 2-3 hours she's very susceptible to spitting it up if she's sitting. She still leans over quite a bit when trying to sit so her belly gets super squished. She'll usually just sit there and grunt - makes me laugh, that's for sure.
Casey's hair has really started to grow over the past few weeks. I was looking through pictures I've taken and was just astonished by how long and thick it's gotten!
She's also growing as an individual and gaining so much personality. I just love all the cute faces she makes a us. 
She's now content to lay and talk to herself after she wakes from a nap and even in the morning when she's gotten up for the day. I enjoy standing outside of her room and listening to the conversations she has with herself. It's truly cute. 
She is also rolling over and seems to prefer to sleep on her belly, so no more swaddling.
She sleeps better when her lower half is swaddled, even from the armpits down, but I worry about leaving her in her bed with a large blanket as she frequently wiggles herself out of the blanket and then pulls it around with her has she moves around the crib.
Enough for now - I'll post this so that there's something new and will begin working on another post soon (I promise). I'll make sure to post C's 5 and 6-month pics (the ones I take in the red chair) in that one.
Take care and love to all!
~j
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